At the heart of design are the stories that give meaning to the work. Andrew Hinton meditates on what stories have taught him about information architecture and the people inhabiting the places he’s helped design.
Discovery, Research, and Testing
In this B&A podcast, Jeff Parks speaks with Gerry McGovern about the thinking that went into his new book. They discuss customers as strangers, the Long Neck, and task management — how to deliver and
measure what your customers want.
The Stranger’s Long Neck
Gerry McGovern discusses the importance of task management
With technology touching ever more of our work lives, user research, in its many guises, becomes part of the project lifecycle. For those of us who want a better idea of what to expect when working with a researcher, Demetrius Madrigal sets our expectations.
Research Logistics
A Crash Course for Designers and Stakeholders
After hearing about Donna Spencer’s paper-based tree testing, Dave O’Brien and his colleagues were hooked, so much so that they built an online tool to allow you to effectively test a site hierarchy. Hear about the tree testing approach and see how O’Brien’s tool works.
Tree Testing
A quick way to evaluate your IA
Talking down a hostage-taker requires extraordinary empathy and close attention to communication patterns. Bryan McClain and Demetrius Madrigal of ActiveComm Labs show us how we can apply these skills when conducting user research.
What design researchers can learn from hostage negotiators
Fred Beecher categorizes prototypes along two dimensions of fidelity –visual and functional — and explains how to choose the right kind of prototype that answers the right questions.
Integrating Prototyping Into Your Design Process
Using appropriate fidelity for the situation
Video game research is mostly focus groups and controlled lab play. For EA’s Spore, Bolt|Peters set out to do better by letting the users play the game in a natural environment, without interference from other players, researchers, or arbitrary tasks.
Researching Video Games the UX Way
A Look at How Bolt|Peters Researched Usability for Spore
You’ve already learned how to use QTUT to reduce usability study prep time. Now, in part two of his article, Paul Nuschke describes how to expedite usability test sessions, and analysis & reporting.
Quick Turnaround Usability Testing, Part II
Sometimes we need to take a step back to ensure that our motivations are in the right place. It can be easy to forget that, when people participate in our studies, they are our partners. Dana Chisnell has taken the time to examine these attitudes and help us understand how to avoid falling into such traps.
Why We Call Them Participants
Looking for another way of realizing your design deliverables? XHTML are easy to code, can double as specifications, and create constraints that increase design effectiveness.
Prototyping with XHTML
Leverage Code as a Design and Specification Platform